


fate at your fingertips

by thehandthatishealing



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben lives guys, F/M, angsty happy floaty fic, that's my canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22070950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehandthatishealing/pseuds/thehandthatishealing
Summary: For a planet that spawned some of the galaxies greatest heroes and most powerful villains, Tatooine is very boring. Right now, that's exactly what they need.A collection of one shots from my post TROS Ben lives universe. Some are happy, some are sad, but all borne of a love that saved the galaxy.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 78





	1. Solid Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, happy to join you here! I haven't written fanfic since I was 15 but TROS just gave me some real intense feelios. This is un-betad, I really needed to get these words OUT of my HEAD. So all mistakes and random changes is tense (I do that often unfortunately) and not to mention... pASsiVe vOiCE.
> 
> The title of this fic comes from Coin's Let It All Go (10:05) which is at the very top of my Ben and Rey playlist. I've got several of these little one shots already written so updates will be daily. But if you've got ideas/prompts, hit me up folks. Collaboration is the framework of the universe.

_Every move you make is apocalypse_

_And you feel your fate at your fingertips_

_…_

_I've been waiting for something to change but I can't escape this waterfall of doubt_

_Oh my blood, sweat, and tears for twenty-some years all bottled up and broken_

_Let it all out_

* * *

They tell no one.

For now.

Finn and Poe think she’s doing something “Jedi-y” (Poe’s words). She’ll tell them though, because this is her life now.

One day, when they’ve both healed some, emotionally, mentally, physically.

They are both orphans now, completely without family. A brief glimpse of an ancestor when they have a whim to show themselves doesn’t count, and it’s been weeks anyway since that last happened. Perhaps even they know that an appearance now could be too much for them.

Ben. Ben has to learn to be Ben again. He has to grapple with the realities of his actions when he was darkside, differentiate the maelstrom as vast as the Maw between accountability and the influence of the Sith. He’s not the first to fall.

His mother, Rey’s guiding light, is dead. As is his father, his uncle.

So much was lost to this war.

Rey watches Ben hover in the air, bathed in the soft light of Tatooine’s dawn, impeccably still. She’s reminded of what has been gained.

“You’re making it hard to concentrate,” he calls down to her suddenly, eyes still closed but the faintest of smiles on his lips.

Rey laughs but there’s an undercurrent of worry.

Ever since Exegol, Ben’s connection to the force has been… shaky. He’s uncertain, hesitant. It’s been a long time since he’s meditated in the light.

Of course, having the life force sucked out of you by a Sith Lord is bound to have negative effects. She’s not sure if he’s trying to protect her, himself, or he’s just so unfamiliar with the force in it’s pure form that it might be too much for him.

But that’s why they’re here. Where it all started. They aren’t hiding, they’re healing. Together.

Ben must have sensed the shift in her thoughts. They still had their bond after all, pulsing steadily in the back of their minds, the bottom of their hearts. He lowers himself to the ground, coming to stand right in front of her.

“You don’t need to stay for me,” he says softly.

“I’m not,” she whispers back, closing the remaining distance between them and resting her head on his chest.

His arms wrap around her and they close their eyes, immersing themselves in the warmth of their bond, the feel of each other, and the solid ground beneath them.


	2. The Follower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is following Ben.
> 
> Inspired by Adam & Moose.

Ben was being followed.

Perhaps stalked was a better word.

Reaching into the force he could sense a desperate, hungry, single minded presence. An animal, clearly. He hadn’t been on Tatooine for very long, but he had distinct memories of sitting at Uncle Luke’s feet as a child, enraptured by his childhood exploits. They very often involved large creatures with venom and a lot of teeth.

He sensed a shift in the animal’s focus. Before it was watching, waiting, but now it was determination and a laser sharp focus on its prey.

Its prey being Ben.

Rey was too far to be of any help to him now, he was on his own. He ducked into a nook in the canyon walls, unhooked his light saber from his hip, and waited.

There was a moment of confusion in the creature’s mind, wondering where its quarry had gone. The sound of loose stones clattering down the side of the cliff echoed across the canyon walls. Then silence.   
Ben could feel the creature get closer to his hiding spot and knew he had to act now lest he get trapped in. He took a breath and jumped out, saber drawn and lit.

He stopped short and lowered his saber a bit. Instead of the multi horned and fanged beast he was expecting it was… a dog?

It was thin, too thin. Its dark brown coat matted and filthy. He took a step closer and it growled louder. He could feel its fear and desperation growing. Its eyes were wild, he’d seen eyes like that before.

Ben gently touched the creatures mind.

_I will not hurt you._

He stayed perfectly still, using the force to reach into his pack and pull out a slab of bantha jerky. The dog’s ears perked up and its eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as it watched the food hover in the air. Ben tossed it a few feet away and the dog jumped at it. The jerky was gone within seconds and the dog turned back to him. He sat and whined softly.

Ben deactivated his light saber and knelt slowly. He took out another piece of jerky and held it out, in his hand this time.

_I will not hurt you._

The dog crept towards his outstretched hand and snatched the food away. When it was gone, he looked at Ben expectantly.

“That’s all I’ve got buddy,” Ben stood and put his light saber back on his belt.

“Be careful out there.”

He took a few steps backwards before turning to continue home. He only made it a few feet before he realized that, once again, he was being followed.

Ben stopped and turned.

“Can I help you with something?”

The dog licked its lips and started panting.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any more food for you.”

It took a few hesitant steps towards Ben.

“Okay, fine. Let’s go.”

He nodded in the general direction of home and started walking again. The dog kept a bit of distance between them but trotted after him.

“You’re lucky Rey has a soft spot for strays.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because hurt people need a pupper!!!!!


	3. Sand Sliding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmmmm this one is just a bit a floof my friends.

“Please stop laughing at me.”

“I… I’m sorry Ben, really I am,” Rey says, her words coming in hiccups and bursts. She tries and fails to swallow another set of giggles. “You just looked absolutely ridiculous!”

Ben doesn’t laugh, but his mouth twitches ever so slightly. He stands and shakes the sand off his clothes and out of his hair.

“I have near perfect balance and coordination in the heat of fight against multiple attackers but for _some_ reason, it’s sliding down a kriffing sand dune that that bests me,” he pouts, cheeks pink from another day in the sun.

“It’s not all about balance,” Rey says having mostly regained her composure, “you have to move with the sand. These dunes can feel fluid, move like water sometimes.”

Ben huffs and trudges back up to the top of the dune where Rey is waiting for him. He drops the scrap of old ship hull on the ground and sits on it dramatically. He’s much too big for it, his knees are tucked up beneath his chin to fit his large form onto the small surface.

It’s a comical sight and Rey can’t stop the laughter from bubbling out once more.

“I thought I asked you, politely, to stop laughing,” Ben scolds with feigned offense.

“You are right, I am so terribly sorry.”

“You know this might be easier if I had a better teacher.”

“What more do I need to do? Sit on there with you?”

Ben’s only reply is a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Wow. You’re incorrigible, you know that right?”

Ben nods impishly and looks shockingly like his father.

Rey walks over to where Ben sits and fits herself awkwardly between his knees.

“Much better.”

“You need to take this seriously, Ben!”

“Yes master,” he whispers, lips right above her ear.”

Rey has to cran her neck to look up at him and fixes him with an exaggerated glare.

Now it’s Ben’s turn to laugh. It echoes though the canyon and Rey leans back into him. She’s never heard him laugh like that.

It’s a beautiful sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you all!


	4. It's Electric! (Boogie Boogie Boogie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BOND STUFF *ugly emotional squawking*

It’s been three months now and Rey is still not used to it.

She might never be, Rey thinks, which really isn’t too bad of a thought. This new closeness brings a nerve tingling intensity to every action. It’s soothing and electrifying all at once. Even now, as Ben is dozing with his head is in her lap, she is aware of every heartbeat, every breath, each soft exhale from his nose.

She’s supposed to be writing to Finn but the sight of Ben below her is distracting. His foot shifts at the other end of the couch in response to some imperceptible itch and it’s in that very moment that a realization hits her like a sudden shout and a quiet whisper all at once.

Rey loves this man.

_I love you._

Ben smiles sleepily. His face is calm but she can feel the thrum of emotion underneath.

“I heard that,” he says, his voice deep and gravely. His eyes remain closed.

“Good,” she replies cheekily and leans down to kiss him.

He chuckles and turns his body so his face is pressed against her stomach and he can wrap an arm around her waist.

Ben sighs deeply and just before Rey feels him nodding off again, she hears it.

_I love you too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, I really like this one. Is that bad?


	5. Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little sliver of our favorite NOT DEAD redeemed Sith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your sweet words :)

Rey is not daunted by mysteries.

Tracking down Luke Skywalker? Easy. Finding out her parentage? Not exactly fun but... done. Unraveling the sacred ways of the Force? A work in progress to be sure, but one she’s wholeheartedly invested in.

But none of those even compare to getting to know Ben Solo.

She knew about the light trapped inside. She recognized the irresistible draw, the inescapable pull between them. But the man, Ben Solo, is something else entirely.

There are some things that Kylo Ren and Ben have in common, a single-minded determination to master each and every task with a razor-sharp focus. This also means that his that his fitness routine hasn’t changed, which she’s not complaining about.

There are some things that are distinctly Han about him, his smile for one which she knows she’ll never tire of seeing. His mechanical mind and the knack for fixing, for tinkering. Ben could spend hours underneath a speeder, hunched over his light saber, or deep in the belly of the Falcon. Rey sees Leia more, though. There is an undeniable graceful air about him, something about the way he holds himself that speaks of royalty.

She gets to see the softer side of Ben. The Ben that eats anything and everything but is also a terrible cook. The Ben that’s a light sleeper and surprisingly very cuddly. He brushes his back teeth first and, oddly enough, has very dainty sneezes.

On his good days she gets to see his sense of humor. He can be goofy, and he snorts when he laughs. He’s playful, especially when it comes to Munsu. If someone had told her a year ago that she would be describing the man in front of her as endearing she would have been convinced that they had gone space mad. But here he is, on all fours and trying to wrestle one of his boots from their equally determined dog.

Rey leans back, content to watch her little family and uncover another piece of him. If it means getting to witness things like this for the first time every day, then she hopes that she never completely solves the mystery of Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI I wrote this before I watched Marriage Story but it's sort of similar to the beginning of the movie?


	6. A Quiet Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben thinks about their future.

“I don’t want to have to hide forever.”

Ben’s voice is barely above a whisper, but the words settle like ice in Rey’s veins.

She has, though, been expecting this conversation and she’s honestly surprised they’ve managed to avoid it this long.

Ben has been quiet all day, which isn’t unusual. The days when he smiled freely and was even playful with her were far outnumbered by the days where the weight of his sins against the galaxy, his family, and Rey overwhelmed him.

It was days like this where she just had to be near him, sending love and support through their bond. They had been laying in silence, watching the moon’s white light filter through the windows. Her head was on his chest and he fiddled absentmindedly with her hair.

“You won’t,” she assures him.

Ben sighs deeply.

“There are things I want to give you, things that I want you to have… that I want us to have. Friends, a home,” he hesitates, “a… a family, a life beyond the desert.”

“You can still have that, you know. _We_ can, and we will. I can feel it.”

Rey is not naïve. She doesn’t expect the galaxy to welcome Ben Solo with open arms. She grew up hearing the tales about Anakin Skywalker’s return to the light. He had the testimony of his son, a war hero and a galactic symbol of hope along with the incomparable Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.

But they were both gone now.

Rey saw his light. She hoped for it, searched for it, dragged it back into existence from under the dark robes and mask. But who was she to Leia Organa? To Luke Skywalker? She had no pull, she was just a scavenger.

She didn’t need the approval of the galaxy, but somewhere deep down she knew Ben thought he did. Even her friends… Maz and Fin, they would be able to sense the change and with time see him as Ben Solo first. Chewie had known him before he was born and would surely be overjoyed at the return of his best friends’ son. But Poe… hotheaded and impulsive Poe had suffered personally at the gloved hands of Kylo Ren. Dear Poe, who was quick to judge and slow to trust, but, once the trust was earned his loyalty was unmatched.

“Don’t rush it Ben,” Rey says, reaching behind to lay a hand on his cheek, “The galaxy needs to heal a bit too, just like you and I. We’ll get there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys rock *finger guns*
> 
> stay tuned... today is double update day


	7. The Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey go to a market.

Ben doesn’t know why he’s so nervous. It’s one of the most domestic, innocuous outings one could possibly go on. Going to market. With his partner. And their dog. There were probably millions of other couples or life groups doing the exact same thing throughout the galaxy.

But most of those beings hadn’t once been the Supreme Leader of the First Order.

There are few people left alive who had ever seen Kylo Ren unmasked. The odds of running into one of them on a backwater world at ordinary outdoor marketplace were beyond infinitesimal.

And yet.

Rey squeezes his hand, sensing the direction of his thoughts. Together they step out of the Falcon and into the light.

* * *

“Hello, child. Has something caught your eye?”

He doesn’t answer immediately, and the Enlin’s many eyes follow his gaze to the small, almost glowing ring.

“Ahhh, it speaks to you, yes?”

The feeling Ben has is similar to when he found his crystal for his new saber. His finger traces the green stone. The color is nearly identical to Rey’s eyes.

“Emerite?” he asks.

“The boy knows his gems,” the Enlin purrs and moves their head almost like they’re bowing.

He picks it up and it sings in the Force, a quiet melody of hope and rebirth. He looks over to where Rey is bartering for something a few booths down. With their bond glowing strongly in his minds eye he knows already that they’re linked for life and they really couldn’t get any closer. Still, he knows what this symbolizes. Rey could probably go her whole life not minding in the slightest that they didn’t have an outward display of what they meant to each other. Then again, he knows that she definitely won’t mind having one anyway.

He smiles and the Enlin blinks in appreciation.

“I’ll take it.”

* * *

Moments after he’s stuffed the small satchel in his pocket, Rey bounces up to him with Munsu in tow. Her eyes are shining, and she holds up a clump of wires and steel with the biggest smile he’s ever seen.

“It’s a Rincon shield convertor! Version five, thank the gods, the sixth version was absolute rubbish… it’s broken but I know I can fix it! Did you know that the old Republic outlawed these? We’ll have to make a few modifications because these really aren’t supposed to be installed in anything smaller than a Chandrilan battle cruiser but still!”

She chatters on as they stroll leisurely, hand in hand, until they get back to the Falcon.

“Did you see anything you liked?” Rey asks, flipping switches on the Falcon’s control board.

Ben hums noncommittally.

“A few odds and ends.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Give me your hand.”

“What?” she looks at him quizzically.

“Your hand.”

“Okay…”

“Um, no, your other hand.”

She reaches out slowly and he takes her hand gently with one hand while the other reaches into his pocket.

He swallows and slides the ring smoothly onto her finger.

“Oh good,” he says simply, “It fits.”

“Ben,” she whispers, “It’s…”

Rey trails off and tears her wide eyes from the ring on her finger to his face.

And he thought her smile before was big.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter... things get real.


	8. Humbug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's been an awakening, have you felt it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alriiiight so to be perfectly honest when I started writing this it was a lot happier? I don't really know what happened... I just wrote it. That being said, if you are sensitive to infant/pregnancy loss you might want to skip this.

Rey barely notices it at first. It just feels like an itch, a tickle, a twinge at the very edge of her mind that her subconscious brushes off. Easy to explain and even easier to ignore.

Until the hum.

A buzzing in the back of her mind, not annoying or disruptive in any way, just there when a moment before it was not. She sits cross-legged on the floor and reaches out to find its source but there’s nothing but lizards, wild banthas, and womprats for miles.

Her efforts proving fruitless, she starts a meditation and reaches not out, but within.

_What is that-_

“Ben!”

Ben looks up from the evaporator he’s been tinkering with all evening.

“Can you hear it?”

His brow furrows.

“Oh, you mean the hum?”

“Yes!” she exhales, “Reach for it!”

There are a few seconds of silence, a gasp, and then a crash as Ben jumps of from his seat and knocks over the table with the evaporator lying in pieces all over the floor.

She chokes back a laugh at the sight of him, eyes wide, usually graceful limbs flailing in an effort to reach her as fast as possible. His knees hit the sand in front of her. They look at each other and Rey hasn’t seen the same mix of wonder and bewilderment on his face since Exegol.

His hands are on her hips, large enough that his thumbs can brush over her abdomen ever so gently. Ben rests his forehead on hers and the bond explodes with joy, astonishment, fear, and love. And with life.

“You’re…” he breathes, “It’s… I just thought we had bugs! But it’s…”

Rey laughs loudly and nods, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

“It’s a baby!”

* * *

The weeks go on and the hum grows. After Ben’s ridiculous outburst they’ve affectionately nick-named the little one “Humbug”, and it’s become as much a part of their link as each other.

During a morning sparring session Ben has her pinned and is about to claim victory when she smugly announces, “It’s a boy!”

Ben stops dead in his tracks and in one swift movement Rey has him on his back.

He’s not even mad.

* * *

Two days later Rey wakes with a start in the middle of the night.

“Ben, Ben!” she cries in a panic, shaking him awake.

Ben groggily comes to but is wide awake in a heartbeat. He feels pain from Rey, emotional and physical.

The hum is gone.

* * *

Ben becomes her rock more than ever.

The link feels somewhat lacking now, without their little Humbug, and he does his best to fill the gap, but they feel numb. Rey can barely get out of bed for the first week after the loss. A local midwife has come and gone, pronouncing Rey perfectly healthy but shaking her head sadly because, “Sometimes, these things just happen dear.”

It feels like how things were before their Force bond, like each of them was missing something. A deep-seated loneliness and yearning for something they didn’t know they needed.

But they have each other this time.

They slowly return to their routine, in jumps and starts and backtracks, but moving forward all the same.

One evening after dinner Rey sits on the sand, watching the twin suns sink into the horizon. She’s bathed in golden light and Ben takes a moment to watch her in awe.

He really has never seen anything so beautiful.

He sits next to her and her head falls gently on his shoulder. They sit in silence, just watching the sky go from orange to pink to purple.

“It will be different next time,” he whispers.

Rey sighs and closes her eyes.

“And the next time. And the next time and the time after that and the time after that.”

She laughs softly.

“Just how many children are we going to have?” she asks with a smile.

“Oh, tons.”

“Tons?”

“Yep, a whole… a whole squadron. A whole squadron of Solos.”

She laughs louder this time and he stands. She takes his outstretched hand and they walk back to their home.

* * *

_(He’s right. Next time, it is different.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHhgngngngnnggnnnnn I'm sorry.
> 
> (PS your comments are my crack)


	9. Plus Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends help friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finn!! And Poe!!! And Ben!!! And Rey!!

“Poe, you need to sit still or I’m going to put you in cuffs. Rey said that they’d be here, so they are going to be here!”

“I still don’t trust him, Finn,” Poe says, pacing back and forth across the landing dock, “I don’t trust him!”

“We know,” Zorii rolls her eyes.

“I don’t see how you can be so calm about all of this, Zor!”

“What? You don’t see how I can be relieved that our daughter is out of danger and in the hands of friends?”

“You mean _friend_ , friend and a raging _mass murderer_!”

Finn sighs. He knows Poe doesn’t mean that, not completely.

“Look, Poe… you trust Rey, don’t you?”

“Obviously, bu-”

“And you trust me?”

“Of course, Finn, but it’s not that sim-”

“Do you honestly think that any of us would put Millie in danger?”

Poe sits down a nearby shipping crate, exhausted and defeated. The past three days have been a new kind of hell for him. Unfortunately, with the galaxy no longer preoccupied with the threat of the First Order, past grudges and old disagreements were resurfacing. Old enemies finally had the time to return to business as usual. And as a former spice runner, Poe had his fair share of those. A rival runner on some quest for revenge against his and Zorii’s old crew had somehow found out about their newborn daughter and it didn’t take long before they had come for her.

It was a desperate enough situation for Poe not to object (too much) to get the old gang... plus one... together again. It had been Rey and Ren’s lead that had panned out.

The comm board squawks and Poe jumps to answer it.

“Rey, is that you!”

“We just dropped out of hyperspace, we’ll be there in a few.”

“Oh, thank gods, Rey. Is she okay?”

There is a brief pause.

“She’s perfectly fine, Poe,” Rey replies with something akin to amusement in her voice.

It isn’t long before the Falcon is landing and ramp lowers. Seconds later the still imposing figure of Ben Solo comes into view with a tiny child in his arms.

Millie is perfectly content. She screeches with joy and grabs a fist full of Ben’s hair in a tight grip.

Ben winces but doesn’t complain.

Poe runs up to them and his daughter lets out another gleeful yell at the sight of her father. She waves her arms back and forth, still holding onto Ben’s hair. This time he is less successful hiding the pain.

“Aaaahhhhh, okay that hurts.”

Poe stops, happy to let his child inflict injury upon one of his enemies. Zorii pushes past him.

“There she is!”

Zorii deftly extracts Ben from Millie’s iron fist.

“Your daughter has a death grip.”

“Yeah, you would know,” Poe bites.

A lightning quick flash of something (embarrassment, hurt, shame, remorse) crosses Ben’s face and Poe feels a bit of remorse himself.

Zorii ignores Poe and takes Millie into her arms.

“It feels like a Zarnack sting, I know,” she says.

Poe swoops in around them and inspects every inch of his baby.

“She’s all there, Poe!” Rey calls out as she exits the Falcon, “Ten fingers, ten toes. We counted.”

“I cannot thank you enough,” Zorii says to them both and gives Poe a pointed look.

“Thank you, Rey,” he says.

“It was a team effort,” she replies smoothly.

Instead of a look, this time Poe receives a kick in the shin.

“Yaahhhoww, you didn’t let me finish. Thanks… Ben.”

Ben nods, clearly uncomfortable.

Finn catches up to them now and wraps Rey in a bear hug. He shakes Bens hand and falls into easy conversation with Rey about his training and studies. Poe watches them out of the corner of his eye. He loves Rey, but no matter how she tries to explain this whole Ben versus Kylo thing he still doesn’t understand. He knows it frustrates them both, but they’ve been through too much together to imagine not being part of one another’s lives. Poe is trying he really is, but some things are hard to forget.

Now though, he can’t help but notice the way Rey and Ben stand with each other, it’s like they’ve melded into one. Ben isn’t active in the conversation by any means, but he contentedly watches Rey, smiling softly whenever she becomes more animated.

He almost looks… tender?

It’s a thought completely at odds with the memories he has of the man who had tortured him. He doesn’t look like a monster right now, just a person.

Zorii smiles at him knowingly and he returns to giving Millie his full attention.

It feels good to be back together again, plus ones and all.


	10. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they prepare to take the next big steps in their life together, Rey and Ben take a little trip down memory lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo it's official... something that started off as a one shot has turned into a fully fledged story in my head. I'm still working on the outline and I want a rough draft finished before I start posting BUT coming soon is (what I hope will be) an epic Bendemption story that takes place in this little universe that I've created in my head. I'm looking at about 20 chapters worth of content right now, and I mean actual chapters with at least 5,000 words. This here one shot is an excerpt from chapter one of my new yet-to-be-titled story. I would have posted the whole first chapter but there are still some plot points that I'm flushing out and reworking. But I love this scene to bits. For some background, Rey and Ben are packing up their little home in anticipation of rejoining the galaxy.
> 
> So in the near future you can expect a new fic in which there is love and drama (but not the stupid kind) and bad guys and mystery and Ben finding himself and friends and a baaaabbyyyyyyy.

“How did we manage to collect this much stuff in a year,” Rey groans, as she straightens from filling up another shipping crate.

“We? I’m pretty sure most of this,” Ben replies, gesturing to the piles of spare parts and pieces littering the tables of their workspace, “belongs to you.”

“Actually…,” she starts, putting her hands on her hips, “I think _that_ is yours.”

Rey points to a half put together nav system to her left.

“Is it really?” Ben asks, eyes wide. He takes a few large steps to the bench, picks it up, and turns it over.

“That’s funny,” he says in mock confusion, “if it’s mine then why does it have _Rey S_ scratched on the bottom?”

“What’s yours is mine, love,” she smiles sweetly, grabbing the part from him.

Ben laughs and drops a kiss on her forehead.

“Once a scavenger, always a scavenger.”

“Oh, I’m wounded.”

Ben ducks a playful swat and heads for their small kitchen.

“Do you want some lunch?”

“Yes, please. We’re starving. But you can just heat something up!” Rey calls after him, “I don’t think I can handle any of your ‘special stew’.”

“That was delicious,” Ben replies indignantly, “You just have a sensitive stomach right now!”

Rey chuckles and turns back to sorting. She’s just about to try and untangle a bunch of loose wires when she hears the sound of a dewback outside their door. Munsu runs in front of her to be the first to greet their visitor. The Force is neutral, waiting. Visitors aren’t common but Rey senses no danger.

“Hello!” a wrinkled man calls out from his mount, “I have a delivery for you.”

“Delivery?”

“Yes, this is the Solo homestead, is it not?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Rey reaches up and takes the small parcel from the man’s hands.

“Thank you, can I get you some water or anything to eat?” she offers.

“No, that’s quite alright. You have a good day now.”

“You as well, thanks.”

The dewback grunts and the courier takes off in the direction he came. Munsu sniffs the parcel and gives it a single lick.

“What do you think it is, boy?”

Rey joins Ben in the kitchen.

“What was all that about?” he asks, placing a plate of food on the table in front of her.

“It was just the courier,” she says distractedly as she unwraps the parcel.

Inside is a small, red, velvet pouch tied with a gold string. She opens it and a stack of data cards slide out. The second Rey touches one she knows exactly who they used to belong to. She recognizes the love and hope mixed with sadness.

“These were your mothers,” Rey exhales in shock.

Ben doesn’t say anything, but Rey can feel the eruption of emotions within him.

Ben watches intently as she reaches for her data reader and inserts one of the cards. There are a few moments of silence followed by a burst of laughter.

“What is it?” he asks.

Rey projects a holo from the data reader.

“It’s you! All of you!”

Ben chokes out something between a laugh and a sob. The holo is indeed of him. He’s probably about seven, looking very uncomfortable and rather ridiculous in formal attire. He’s seated at a fancy table with his parents. Leia is smiling, not her real smile, just her camera smile. Han has the same expression as his young son.

Ben doesn’t remember the exact night that was taken, he had gone to countless political events and galas throughout his childhood. Each time they would leave as early as acceptable before sneaking down to the lower levels of Coruscant for his favorite, goji pie. Like any child he hated getting dressed up and getting his cheeks pinched by Bothans but those late-night excursions after were some of his most treasured memories. Sometimes he can’t believe how easily he had thrown those away.

The rest of the data card and the others were more of the same. Countless holos of him in the Falcon, with his parents, with Chewie, Lando, R2, C-3PO, and Uncle Luke.

Ben can feel the delight pouring off of Rey and he lets her emotions drown out his. He might never come to terms with his past, but if moments of it could put a smile on Rey’s face… he could live with that. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

So much of his life had changed in the past few years and before the next one was over… he was going to be a father. A thought, simple yet oddly profound, hit him suddenly. Pretty soon he and Rey would have their own stash of holos just like this. The two of them, and their daughter.

“Where did these come from?” he asks.

“There wasn’t a name, but they have to be from Finn. Last time I spoke to him he told me Poe had found some of your mother’s things.”

There is another burst of laughter from Rey. 

“Look at you!”

Ben groans and covers his eyes but it’s no use. He can see it through Rey’s eyes. It’s him on the Falcon, no more than two years old and wearing nothing but a diaper. At that age his body hadn’t quite caught up to the size of his head.

“Do you see now why I hope our girl takes after you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! If I have any feels that I need to get out of my system I will post them here but for the next couple weeks most of my time will be going to my new story.
> 
> I want to thank all of you too! Without your sweet words and kudos I would never have been inspired to take on a multi-chapter fic. So... love to you folks.


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